Greek 50 cents coins

The poorest member of the EU, Greece saw EMU as an essential step towards achieving its strategic and economic ambitions.
In spite of the euro's weakness when
Greece entered the euro-zone on January 1 2001, opinion polls showed that some 70 per cent of Greeks were in favour of membership.
There was little attachment to the drachma, as europe's second-oldest currency was linked in Greek minds with economic and
political backwardness. Greece leveraged the euro to encourage foreign direct investment with a view to the country becoming a
business and transport hub, linking south-east Europe with EU markets.

The following 50 cents coins have circulated in Greece since the introduction of the
Common European Currency on January 1, 2002:

Eleytherios Venizelos (1864-1936), one of the most prominent political figures in Hellas. He was a pioneer in social reform, a renowned diplomat and played a key role in modernising the Greek state and the victorious military campaigns of 1912-1920, liberating Northern Greece and the Aegean islands. He was elected 7 times as the Prime Minister.

Eleytherios Venizelos (1864-1936), one of the most prominent political figures in Hellas. He was a pioneer in social reform, a renowned diplomat and played a key role in modernising the Greek state and the victorious military campaigns of 1912-1920, liberating Northern Greece and the Aegean islands. He was elected 7 times as the Prime Minister.